:00:00. > :00:07.This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson and Sally Bundock.
:00:08. > :00:12.The energy giant BP delivers another strong profit
:00:13. > :00:32.Live from London, that's our top story on Tuesday the 1st of August.
:00:33. > :00:40.With BP's focus moving from old projects to new ones
:00:41. > :00:42.and a massive writedown in Angola profits still came
:00:43. > :00:51.Sony takes it to another level as it look at its biggest
:00:52. > :00:55.The electronics giant has been selling lots of Playstations
:00:56. > :01:11.We have all the details ahead for the trading day. And, do businesses
:01:12. > :01:13.really know their customers? And we'll be getting
:01:14. > :01:15.the inside track on how you build customer loyalty as your business
:01:16. > :01:30.grows with the boss of Enflux, Anthony scurried she is fired after
:01:31. > :01:33.ten days in the job, we want to know what the shortest job you have ever
:01:34. > :01:49.had is... -- Anthony Scaramucci. Keep your comments coming in, use
:01:50. > :01:52.the hashtag. I worked in a garden centre for five hours watering
:01:53. > :01:57.hanging baskets, it was boring, short and paid a little bit of
:01:58. > :02:00.money. Much like that, I was able to reach the top of the hanging
:02:01. > :02:01.baskets. Good morning, let's make a start.
:02:02. > :02:04.In the last hour and a half one of the world's largest energy
:02:05. > :02:07.producers, the London listed BP has been telling us how much
:02:08. > :02:10.money it's been making, and pension funds everywhere will be
:02:11. > :02:11.relieved to see they are in the black.
:02:12. > :02:14.Profits for the three months from April to June
:02:15. > :02:16.came in at $684 million, that's using what's known
:02:17. > :02:23.as the the replacement cost measure - and it's better than expected.
:02:24. > :02:27.But - it's been hit by some big costs too.
:02:28. > :02:30.It wrote off just over $750m for a gas project in Angola
:02:31. > :02:35.that the company decided wasn't worth developing.
:02:36. > :02:46.That tells you a lot about BP's broader strategy.
:02:47. > :02:47.It's being more selective about its investments
:02:48. > :02:51.The price of oil is down 10% compared to last year.
:02:52. > :02:53.And it's also keeping costs down using data.
:02:54. > :02:55.It's invested heavily in sensors to collect five million bits
:02:56. > :02:57.of information from its facilities every single minute -
:02:58. > :03:05.and it's using that to make those facilities run more efficiently.
:03:06. > :03:09.Cailin Birch, Commodities Analyst at the Economist Intelligence
:03:10. > :03:19.Good morning, thank you for coming in. Ben was going through the
:03:20. > :03:24.numbers, give us your take on those results? As you said, they were
:03:25. > :03:29.better than they expected, based on company surveys and market
:03:30. > :03:34.expectations, it will boost BP in the near term, in what is a negative
:03:35. > :03:41.time and uncertain for oil prices coming off quarter to. We have two
:03:42. > :03:45.remember that this is lower than profits in the same quarter of 2016
:03:46. > :03:50.when oil prices were much weaker. Then we were expecting this year. We
:03:51. > :03:59.have seen a significant impact on that right down. And that loss in
:04:00. > :04:03.Angola continues to hurt BP, and whether it will improve
:04:04. > :04:09.significantly? Costs have been going down, they have written off those
:04:10. > :04:13.obligations for five years. What is important to notice is for companies
:04:14. > :04:18.across the sector, efficiency will be key. Cutting down costs and
:04:19. > :04:21.trying to be as efficient as possible, in investment and
:04:22. > :04:27.operation expenditure, BP has a weight of debt to pay off and other
:04:28. > :04:31.companies are not struggling. That is an issue, other oil majors have
:04:32. > :04:36.become leaner and meaner, Shell is making more money and other
:04:37. > :04:40.investors are looking at Shell or others as an alternative to BP? Some
:04:41. > :04:46.are concerned that BP cannot stick to promises like dividend payments?
:04:47. > :04:50.It is a real risk, BP has obligations to pay off and in the
:04:51. > :04:54.medium term it will weigh on profitability which is why we see
:04:55. > :04:58.the strategy we are looking at where BP has been shedding a lot of
:04:59. > :05:05.profitable assets and the right thing in Angola is on the bottom
:05:06. > :05:09.line -- the writedown. Every time they get a project which would
:05:10. > :05:14.further add to their spending bill in the medium to long-term, they
:05:15. > :05:16.become more efficient. Thank you very much indeed, an analysis of BP,
:05:17. > :05:22.their shares are up over 2% on the news. And we
:05:23. > :05:23.will take a full look at what the markets are doing later in the
:05:24. > :05:23.programme. Let's take a look at some
:05:24. > :05:26.of the other stories How prepared are banks
:05:27. > :05:29.and insurance firms for Brexit? The newly-appointed head
:05:30. > :05:31.of the UK parliament's Treasury Select Committee has
:05:32. > :05:32.demanded the information, in one of her first moves
:05:33. > :05:36.since taking on the role. In a letter to the bank's
:05:37. > :05:39.Prudential Regulatory Authority, she asked for the key risks facing
:05:40. > :05:42.the industries if there's no deal with the EU -
:05:43. > :05:56.the so-called 'hard brexit'. Toshiba's shares have been
:05:57. > :05:58.demoted to the second tier of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
:05:59. > :06:01.because the value of everything it Toshiba, originally known
:06:02. > :06:04.for its consumer electronics products, has faced a series
:06:05. > :06:06.of financial difficulties, with the biggest the huge losses
:06:07. > :06:10.at its US nuclear power division. Apple and Google have removed over
:06:11. > :06:12.300 so-called binary trading applications
:06:13. > :06:15.from their online stores. That's after intervention
:06:16. > :06:16.by the Australian Securities Investments Commission,
:06:17. > :06:18.which said it made the request to the companies after numerous
:06:19. > :06:21.cases of fraud involving unlicensed The apps encourage consumers to make
:06:22. > :06:43.bets on whether shares A really busy day for earnings and
:06:44. > :06:48.among them is the Japanese technology giant Sony.
:06:49. > :06:53.period, leaving it on course for its highest annual
:06:54. > :06:56.It's interesting, we have talked about their woes for so long.
:06:57. > :07:06.It is really interesting, so many well-documented problems for Sony
:07:07. > :07:14.and now it appears that they are on the up again? It is a first for the
:07:15. > :07:20.Japanese company, they beat analyst expectations with a threefold jump,
:07:21. > :07:25.with operating profits of almost $1.5 billion, due to its strong
:07:26. > :07:29.demand for smartphones, healthy sales of the PlayStation for
:07:30. > :07:34.consoles and games, and in the box office they see success with
:07:35. > :07:40.Spiderman Homecoming, so hopes that earnings will be strong for the film
:07:41. > :07:45.division. As you mention, this comes after a tough year for the company
:07:46. > :07:51.including an earthquake which crippled camera chip production and
:07:52. > :07:57.a $1 million writedown of the film division. We will keep an eye on
:07:58. > :07:58.that, on track for their best figures in nearly 20 years, whether
:07:59. > :08:01.it will play out we will find out. Those good figures from Sony -
:08:02. > :08:03.and a similar update from Panasonic wasn't enough
:08:04. > :08:07.to keep their shares afloat. Toshiba down 2.2%, after reporting
:08:08. > :08:10.a rise in profits, but sales fell But the overall market
:08:11. > :08:19.ended the session higher as earnings season picked up -
:08:20. > :08:22.and investors reassured that there's Earnings season too in the UK -
:08:23. > :08:33.engine maker Rolls-Royce telling investors that engine deliveries
:08:34. > :08:38.rose sharply helping it report a pre-tax profit of ?1.94 billion
:08:39. > :08:41.for the six months to June, that's a reversal of a loss
:08:42. > :08:43.of #2.15 billion loss over In the US later, we'll hear
:08:44. > :08:55.from Apple and Pfizer - Samira has those
:08:56. > :09:08.details from New York. The big news for Tuesday will
:09:09. > :09:11.certainly be Apple, due to report earnings after the bell and the key
:09:12. > :09:16.metric investors will be looking at our sales of the iPhone. Sales for
:09:17. > :09:20.the iPhone seven and seven plus have been really strong which is likely
:09:21. > :09:23.to boost revenue for the company. But there is some worry that
:09:24. > :09:28.customers may delay upgrading their phones in favour of the next device.
:09:29. > :09:35.Apple usually releases a new smartphone in September but that
:09:36. > :09:46.could be delayed until October. Also reporting on Tuesday, pharmaceutical
:09:47. > :09:48.giant Pfizer, demand for breast cancer treatment and rheumatoid
:09:49. > :09:50.arthritis drugs will lift earnings for the company but the looming
:09:51. > :09:52.patent exploration of drugs like Viagra has investors focusing on
:09:53. > :09:54.plans to resuscitate the great engine and whether deals are on the
:09:55. > :10:03.table. Some era patent expiring on Viagra, write
:10:04. > :10:06.your Aston 's please!? Joining us is Richard Fletcher,
:10:07. > :10:14.business editor at The Times. It's good to see you. Let's talk
:10:15. > :10:20.about a couple of stories in the news, British American Tobacco, this
:10:21. > :10:27.Serious Fraud Office are launching an investigation? A long-running
:10:28. > :10:32.enquiry, Panorama had a programme about what the business and some of
:10:33. > :10:35.its agents in Africa were up to, with internal investigations they
:10:36. > :10:38.tried to play down allegations at the time that there was an
:10:39. > :10:42.announcement at the time that the Serious Fraud Office is going to
:10:43. > :10:47.look at this, a lot of UK companies have been caught up by what has
:10:48. > :10:53.happened overseas but it is another blow for the business. The FDA and
:10:54. > :10:57.the US announced on Friday that they want to reduce nicotine to
:10:58. > :11:01.nonaddictive levels in cigarettes, they cannot ban them but they can
:11:02. > :11:06.reduce the levels of nicotine which hit producers around the world,
:11:07. > :11:12.including VAT, they continue to sell off yesterday. I looked a moment ago
:11:13. > :11:17.and they are up a fraction -- BAT, but it is another blow. The White
:11:18. > :11:22.House saga continues in America, we love the drama but the dollar
:11:23. > :11:26.doesn't? The president was tweeting yesterday about a record high.
:11:27. > :11:33.Markets, but not the dollar. A fifth monthly decline for the dollar, the
:11:34. > :11:37.worst since April 20 11. The markets are split by two things, the chaos
:11:38. > :11:44.in the White House and what it means not only for his reform and
:11:45. > :11:48.infrastructure spending and tax reform... This is the firing of
:11:49. > :11:54.Anthony Scaramucci, the communications director? It is the
:11:55. > :12:00.latest in chaos, and they are spooked by the fact it looks like
:12:01. > :12:04.the Fed isn't going to do reforms and we will not get a rise in
:12:05. > :12:10.September. Some in government like a weaker dollar, that is a good thing?
:12:11. > :12:16.It is 10% down on the year. What is the shortest job you have ever had?
:12:17. > :12:22.I got a tryout for the milkman, I did a paper round, the milkman said
:12:23. > :12:26.that he would pay me more, I did today, I dropped too mini bottles, I
:12:27. > :12:33.was never invited back! We've heard about yours... There is a food theme
:12:34. > :12:36.going... Mine was five hours doing hanging
:12:37. > :12:41.baskets! We have some brilliant tweets from
:12:42. > :12:45.you, Christian, not even a day in a cheese factory, I was sick on the
:12:46. > :12:50.shop floor, straight out the door and never to return. I agree! And
:12:51. > :12:57.another Ben, two days of Strawbridge picking with my leg in plaster as a
:12:58. > :13:02.teenager -- strawberry picking. My mum said I could not laze around for
:13:03. > :13:07.the summer. And Stevie, putting the colour labels on lipsticks when I
:13:08. > :13:13.was a teenager, I lasted two hours until tea break. Where is your
:13:14. > :13:14.staying power? Send us in more! Thank you so much for coming in
:13:15. > :13:27.today, Richard. Do businesses really know their
:13:28. > :13:34.customers? We get the inside track. How do they keep customers loyal?
:13:35. > :13:37.The firm Enflux claim they have 18,000 sources of information about
:13:38. > :13:38.us. You're with Business
:13:39. > :13:42.Live from BBC News. Energy giant British Gas is to raise
:13:43. > :13:45.electricity prices by 12.5% from mid-September -
:13:46. > :13:50.but gas prices will be kepy on held. from mid-September -
:13:51. > :13:52.but gas prices will be kept on held. It means the average annual bill
:13:53. > :13:55.for a typical household will go Ian Conn is the Chief Executive
:13:56. > :14:02.of parent company Centrica, he explained why to our business
:14:03. > :14:13.editor, Simon Jack. The reason for this is the
:14:14. > :14:18.transmission and distribution costs have been going up, as well as the
:14:19. > :14:23.environmental and social policy costs, and recently we have actually
:14:24. > :14:27.been selling electricity at a loss. Those are the reasons we've had to
:14:28. > :14:30.put up prices, beginning in the middle of September. The overall
:14:31. > :14:40.impact for the average dual fuel bill is 7.3%. Or, ?76. This will
:14:41. > :14:48.affect 3.1 million of our customers, out of a total of 8.4 million.
:14:49. > :14:51.Defending that 12.5% rise in electricity prices, business editor
:14:52. > :14:55.Simon Jack joins us from our business newsroom. What did you make
:14:56. > :14:59.of what was said and why they are rising prices? We are used to
:15:00. > :15:05.hearing energy companies say that the main reason they raise prices is
:15:06. > :15:08.because of the price they pay, the wholesale markets for electricity,
:15:09. > :15:13.that has gone up and they are passing it along. They acknowledged
:15:14. > :15:16.this time that since they put on this freeze in prices back in
:15:17. > :15:22.December, wholesale costs have gone down. They say, it is not our fault
:15:23. > :15:26.but the fault of renewables and government policy. Renewable energy
:15:27. > :15:31.at the moment costs a little more than gas generating electricity and
:15:32. > :15:34.that has been passed on, and also connecting renewable sources to the
:15:35. > :15:40.grid which brings gas and electricity into our homes, costing
:15:41. > :15:42.money and the government's historic policy of allowing people to
:15:43. > :15:48.generate their own electricity and sell it back to the great takes
:15:49. > :15:51.administering and that costs money too. They say it isn't their fault,
:15:52. > :15:56.they are selling at a loss but this will be a big blow to 3.1 million
:15:57. > :16:01.customers but could push up inflation as it is a big component
:16:02. > :16:03.of many household bills. Simon Jack, thank you. More on that story on the
:16:04. > :16:12.website. House price inflation continues to
:16:13. > :16:17.rise. UK house prices up just 0.3% month on month. Full details, as you
:16:18. > :16:23.can see, on the BBC Business Live page.
:16:24. > :16:27.You're watching Business Live. Our top story:
:16:28. > :16:36.Shares in BP are on the up. They posted a second quarter profit of
:16:37. > :16:39.$684 million. A quick look at what the wider markets are doing.
:16:40. > :16:44.Reporting season is well under way. We have had a whole raft of figures
:16:45. > :16:47.this morning as Sally said from BP. We've heard from Toshiba and Sony
:16:48. > :16:51.and from Rolls-Royce. If you're a small business,
:16:52. > :16:56.getting to know your customers is pretty easy, but as firms grow -
:16:57. > :16:59.that gets more and more difficult. But knowing your customers helps
:17:00. > :17:02.firms build loyalty, So companies are turning to social
:17:03. > :17:08.media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to predict
:17:09. > :17:12.what their customers want. One of the tools to do
:17:13. > :17:16.that is called Enflux. It says it analyses millions
:17:17. > :17:18.of social media posts and brings together 18,000
:17:19. > :17:22.different sources of data. It's just one of many
:17:23. > :17:27.firms that do the same including Simply Measured,
:17:28. > :17:29.Brandwatch and Social Bakers Joining us is Avery Booker,
:17:30. > :17:43.the Chief Executive of Enflux. Good morning. Good morning. So just
:17:44. > :17:47.tell us a bit about the background here. This company, which you've
:17:48. > :17:50.started, has been running for a few years. Prior to that you were
:17:51. > :17:55.working in the luxury goods market. Just talk us through how this all
:17:56. > :18:00.materialised? Sure. So, one thing I saw as a consultant was that most of
:18:01. > :18:03.the companies in the world were spending millions and didn't know
:18:04. > :18:07.the full effects of what they were doing. They were using gut instinct
:18:08. > :18:12.and data here and there, but they didn't know what was going to be the
:18:13. > :18:17.next trnd. Really, not knowing the next thing to come will always keep
:18:18. > :18:22.you one step behind. The started the company to really not use
:18:23. > :18:26.retrospective data, but to take the data in real-time and shape the
:18:27. > :18:30.predictions and say this is what we expect to happen in three months or
:18:31. > :18:35.six months. What your predictions provide for quite a few of your
:18:36. > :18:42.clients is not just information about what somebody might buy next,
:18:43. > :18:46.ie the next handbag, it's, they use this data to decide where the next
:18:47. > :18:53.store be or where they should expand? We have done everything from
:18:54. > :19:00.telling a company that they have under served markets in America. So
:19:01. > :19:05.we found six, served under served markets that like your product, but
:19:06. > :19:10.don't have it. Where should be the next store be? Where should the next
:19:11. > :19:16.event be? Where does this data come from. We talk about social media, is
:19:17. > :19:21.it as simple as that person says this person says they want to buy a
:19:22. > :19:24.bag in Paris. We take all the context that somebody puts out in
:19:25. > :19:29.the world and it is all public data. So we take the information and put
:19:30. > :19:33.it in this data engine and we can infer this person lives in Paris and
:19:34. > :19:37.wants to go shopping in London. How do you make the distinction between
:19:38. > :19:40.what is maybe wishful thinking? We know social media is always about
:19:41. > :19:47.presenting a better version of ourselves. So maybe I have lots of
:19:48. > :19:51.money and I want to buy lots of handbags in Paris. That's not always
:19:52. > :19:56.the reality? We try to do what we can to see what matters to the
:19:57. > :20:01.consumers and the brands can put it out in the world. It is the brand's
:20:02. > :20:05.job to make that sale. Are you going to move into the area of artificial
:20:06. > :20:09.intelligence as well? Are you already working in that area? We are
:20:10. > :20:15.already working in that area. A lot of, we need a lot of that because we
:20:16. > :20:20.are pulling in this real-time data. We can't do that without AI. We are
:20:21. > :20:25.not doing it in any way that's spooky. That is what worries me. I
:20:26. > :20:28.have got one of these things in my kitchen and I make sure she is
:20:29. > :20:33.switched off, from my point of view, she is listening to what everything
:20:34. > :20:37.I say. We do a bit of that, but not the spooky stuff. We are used to
:20:38. > :20:40.firms tracking our spending habits and behaviour, be it with loyalty
:20:41. > :20:44.cards, club cards, credit cards, where does the next ten years take
:20:45. > :20:47.us? That relationship has changed significantly over the last decade.
:20:48. > :20:52.I imagine there is huge changes on the way. The companies are going to
:20:53. > :20:55.know much more about us in ten years than they do today, that's the
:20:56. > :20:59.spooky part. What is going to happen, right now companies are
:21:00. > :21:02.using this data, but in ten years, consumers will use this data, if
:21:03. > :21:08.they want to get in shape, they will be using more big data to figure out
:21:09. > :21:12.where should I go, what should I do? Do you have to do the same technique
:21:13. > :21:15.on your own business to make sure you're still around in ten years? We
:21:16. > :21:20.are taking a bit of our own medicine, that's true. There are a
:21:21. > :21:24.lot of companies like that you that offer Burberry the same service? I
:21:25. > :21:29.think that services are a bit different. A lot of people use the
:21:30. > :21:33.data to shape today, but we use today's data to shape what we expect
:21:34. > :21:37.to happen tomorrow and that's a more difficult proposition. Thank you for
:21:38. > :21:41.coming in. Your shortest job? I painted fences for a week in Texas
:21:42. > :21:46.in the summer time. That must have been... That was a rough one. It was
:21:47. > :21:50.pretty boring. That sounds pretty rough to me. I will reveal mine in a
:21:51. > :21:53.few minutes. Stay with us. Stay tuned for that!
:21:54. > :21:55.The UK Government is challenging the likes of Facebook,
:21:56. > :21:57.Twitter and Google to do more to remove online extremist content
:21:58. > :21:59.online which it says is fuelling terrorism.
:22:00. > :22:02.The Home Secretary Amber Rudd has been meeting the companies
:22:03. > :22:04.at a technology summit in San Francisco from
:22:05. > :22:15.Organised police say with the help of social media.
:22:16. > :22:19.So companies here in Silicon Valley are being told they must do more
:22:20. > :22:22.to prevent the spread of extremist content online.
:22:23. > :22:26.What I need them to acknowledge is that the enemy, who is really
:22:27. > :22:28.trying to move swiftly online, to radicalise people
:22:29. > :22:30.in their own homes, are really stepping their game up
:22:31. > :22:35.and we need our response stepped up as well.
:22:36. > :22:39.And there is also a concern that new measures might mean a loss
:22:40. > :22:47.It's not possible to say we're going to monitor
:22:48. > :22:50.all communications on our platforms, but still preserve users privacy.
:22:51. > :22:55.They may attempt to minimise the impact on users privacy.
:22:56. > :22:58.They have to face up, people who might oppose this,
:22:59. > :23:05.They're trying to weaponise people at home.
:23:06. > :23:08.Another worry as security experts will tell you is that terrorists
:23:09. > :23:16.could simply move to harder to reach parts of the internet.
:23:17. > :23:29.Nice to see you Dominic. So the papers, online media, all over the
:23:30. > :23:33.firing of Scaramucci after just ten days as communications director in
:23:34. > :23:37.the White House. Your thoughts? Well, the wider impact is, of
:23:38. > :23:40.course, about the end of the Trump bump and how business is losing
:23:41. > :23:44.confidence in Trump's ability to deliver. Turmoil in the White House
:23:45. > :23:51.is not good for the dollar. The dollar had its worst run of the year
:23:52. > :23:56.in the last week because this turmoil speaks to turmoil's ability,
:23:57. > :23:59.make America great, reinvestment in the US manufacturing base. People
:24:00. > :24:04.now doubt that those things can actually happen. That those prom us
:24:05. > :24:08.will be made good and the departure of Scaramucci is another example of
:24:09. > :24:16.this turmoil and it has hurt the dollar. The conspiracy theorists
:24:17. > :24:20.would have it is just a distraction. The problem is what's the evidence
:24:21. > :24:24.of that? Although there is the other school of thought is that Trump is
:24:25. > :24:28.all and in his business life has been destruction to create the
:24:29. > :24:33.other. You go in and you shape things up and change the way of
:24:34. > :24:36.doing things and build again the way you want it and it pays off. That
:24:37. > :24:42.might be true in the business world, if you are a new Chief Executive,
:24:43. > :24:47.you can sack everybody. It is not as if he inherited these people in the
:24:48. > :24:51.White House. He built them up. There is the new Chief-of-Staff who says
:24:52. > :24:58.you're fired. It wasn't Trump, remember. We think that. Your
:24:59. > :25:08.shortest job? A couple of weeks in a bakery job. Why a few weeks? There
:25:09. > :25:10.were issues with management! LAUGHTER
:25:11. > :25:16.Did buns fly around in the rage? Buns were flying! What's yours? I
:25:17. > :25:21.was the boss's daughter. So, of course... Oh, here we go. I never
:25:22. > :25:24.got the sack. He ran his own printing factory. He could have
:25:25. > :25:30.sacked me many, many times, but I stayed fort duration. It cost him, I
:25:31. > :25:35.think, his earnings were lower than expected due to bad issues, family
:25:36. > :25:40.issues! Let's take some more from the viewers. Simon, "One shift in a
:25:41. > :25:45.chicken factory. The smell was sickening, I didn't go back." I
:25:46. > :25:50.lasted one day at a call centre. I saw the supervisor mooching around
:25:51. > :25:56.so I thought I was allowed to and I was not! " Dominic, thank you for
:25:57. > :26:00.your time. Nice to see you. Thanks for your company and thanks for your
:26:01. > :26:06.comments. We will see you tomorrow. Have a really good day. Bye-bye.
:26:07. > :26:12.Good morning. It is the first day of August and the weather is looking
:26:13. > :26:16.pretty unsettled for the first week of the month. Low pressure is in
:26:17. > :26:19.charge of our weather. There is another area of low pressure pushing
:26:20. > :26:20.in tomorrow bringing more wet and windy